A Lubbock police SWAT team served a search warrant on a Central Lubbock apartment Wednesday afternoon as part of the investigation of a Lubbock man’s murder.

Lubbock police arrested a man late Wednesday following hours of questioning and a SWAT team raid on his apartment earlier in the day as part of the investigation of a Lubbock man’s murder.

Michael Alexander Whetstone, 22, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of Stanley Lynn Rodriguez after spending hours under questioning by police, according to Lubbock police Lt. Neal Barron.

Police, acting on a search warrant, searched for evidence in Whetstone's apartment about 1:45 p.m. in the 1600 block of Avenue S, Barron said.

Investigators were searching for clues in the murder of Rodriguez, 34, who was found dead at about 4:10 a.m. Aug. 4 in the 2600 block of East Canyon Lake Drive.

He suffered a single gunshot wound to his head. He was last seen driving a maroon 1998 Ford Escort wagon, the vehicle in which he was found dead in the parking lot near the lake.

Police Wednesday afternoon had described Whetstone as a person of interest and did not release his name until he was arrested just before 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Investigators linked several leads received during the investigation to identify Whetstone's apartment as significant in the homicide case, he said. Charges against other persons involved in the murder could be filed today, according to police.

Police Wednesday afternoon would not confirm if investigators found pertinent evidence in the apartment.

Rodriguez’s mother and sister said they didn’t know anyone who lives in the apartment complex. His mother, Victoria Benavidez, said she was encouraged by news police were making progress in the investigation.

“I’m so happy they found the truth and justice is being served,” she said.

Benavidez, who this week vowed to walk every day around the lake near where her son was found until the murderer is arrested, said she had no intention of stopping after Wednesday’s police announcement.

“I’m still going to keep walking for the rest of the people who still need justice,” she said.

Benavidez’s walk hasn’t affected the intensity of the police investigation, Barron said. He explained detectives already had been and would continue working day and night on the case.

“This is just as tragic as any other homicide,” he said.

Neighbors in the apartment complex said they saw police take a young man out of his apartment in handcuffs.

JoAnn Schnaufer, who lives two doors away from the raided apartment, said the handcuffed man taken into police custody had lived in the one-bedroom apartment for about one week.

She was just returning home from an errand when she saw police and law enforcement vehicles surrounding her single-story apartment complex, she said.

“All I saw was just camo,” she said. “They had officers all around the back, in the alley, on the side, and the front yard was just full of people.”

Schnaufer said she heard a loud bang, presumably from the SWAT team forcing entry into the apartment. Barron said Whetstone was found without any incident of violence.

An exterior window on the apartment’s north side was broken during the raid and boarded up, Schnaufer said.

“That’s what they did when they had a raid here a year ago,” she said. “They came in from all sides.”

The apartment’s metal door on Wednesday afternoon was marked with a fist-size dent — damage Schnaufer said was caused during Wednesday’s SWAT raid.

She said the door had just been replaced after a police raid during a drug investigation about a year ago at the apartment. The front door was secured with a metal padlock installed after Wednesday’s raid.

Worried about her safety and the safety of her grandchildren who sometimes stay with her, Schnaufer said, she asked a police officer if the man in handcuffs would return to the house. The officer told her he didn’t expect the man would return to the apartment any time soon, she said.

Schnaufer and neighbor Ted Thomas said the man who moved into the apartment told them he lived there with his girlfriend. Thomas said the man’s red pickup, which had received a parking ticket Monday while parked in front of the apartment, was towed away following Wednesday’s raid.

Police still urge anyone with information about Rodriguez’s last whereabouts or his murder to call them. Residents may remain anonymous by calling Crime Line at 741-1000. Homicide detective Justin Martinez can be reached at 775-2820 or 548-3823.

To comment on this story:

adam.young@lubbockonline.com • 766-8725

james.ricketts@lubbockonline.com • 766-8706

Source: Lubbock police, Rodriguez family

Homicide• Stanley Rodriguez, 34, found shot to death at 4:10 a.m. Wednesday, 2600 East Canyon Lake Drive.• He was found in his maroon 1998 Ford Escort wagon in the parking lot just off the roadway.•Rodriguez was an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Army and had three children.• Call Crime Line at 741-1000 with information. Callers may remain anonymous.

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